A destruction system may be used for destroying explosive objects such as e.g. ammunition, propellants or explosives, including for example old unusable or unwanted ammunition. Such a system must be robust in order to withstand the high loads of possible detonating explosives.
An example of such a destruction system is disclosed in EP0898693 where munitions are loaded in a destruction chamber through a combined inlet/outlet. The chamber is emptied after use by rotating the chamber through 180°. A similar system is disclosed in WO96/12157.
Further attention is drawn to U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,051, disclosing a rotary kiln that is charged with pneumatic tires by a lock chamber which carries two gates adapted to be opened in alternation. To ensure a desirable charging operation, the lock chamber provides a runway downwardly inclined towards the kiln inlet and having a length which is at least twice the tire diameter. The gate at the receiving end of the lock chamber is provided with a tire holder for holding each tire in a position for rolling on the runway. The tire holder comprises a gripping device having two gripping jaws operable to move in mutually opposite directions and engageable with the side wall of a pneumatic tire. The gripping jaws are mounted to be adjustable in a direction parallel to the runway and transversely to the direction of travel of the tire on the runway.
Loading of munitions into the destruction chamber is an important part of the destruction process and it is thus desirable to enable a user-friendly and safe way to do it. Even though the above mentioned prior art shows very useful solutions for loading and unloading of objects, it would still be desirable to even further optimize such a destruction system with a dedicated loading arrangement.